Counting On Cole (Wilde Ways #8) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,17

retreated so that they could all head inside. The place was exactly as it had been when she moved out a year ago. Decorated by the best interior designer in New York to ooze money and taste. Nothing was out of place. Perfect artwork hung on the walls. The white furniture was both stylish and classic. The view over the city showed all the glimmering lights and—

The place felt cold.

Always had. She took a seat on the couch.

“Our team is searching for the van that was used in the near abduction,” Cole said. He moved to stand behind her. Didn’t sit, just stood back there, and for some reason, she found his choice of position oddly protective. “We’ll access the traffic cams and see what we can find—”

“You can do that?” Harrison’s eyebrows shot up. “The city just gives you access to their traffic cams?”

Chase coughed. “No.” Another cough. “They don’t.” He smiled as he sat down beside Evie. “But we take it. Our techs can work all sorts of magic.” He moved his hand around in a little swirl. “By the way, I’m Chase. We spoke a few times on the phone.”

“Right. Chase.” Harrison huffed out a rough breath. “Wait, back up, are you telling me that you’re breaking the law?”

Chase nodded and, at the same time, he replied, “Absolutely not.”

Harrison opened his mouth. Closed it. Then sat down—rather heavily—in a nearby chair. One that, of course, was a perfect mate to the couch.

For a moment, no one spoke.

“We need to get Evie to a secure location.” Harrison peered at the floor as he seemed to consider options. “Maybe she should fly away.” He looked up at her. “You know, I have that place down in Florida. You liked the beaches there, right, Evie?”

She had liked the beaches, but… “You want me to go and hide?”

His lips thinned. “Hiding seems far better than being taken by these bastards.”

Giving up her life didn’t seem like the best plan to her. “How do we know these kidnappers are the same ones who came after me before?”

Harrison tugged on his left earlobe.

She straightened. Uh, oh.

“I think we should just assume they are the same,” he mumbled. “I mean, statistically, the odds of you attracting two different sets of kidnappers just aren’t—”

“Stop.”

He swallowed. Tugged on his ear again.

“First, I didn’t attract the kidnappers. Not like I shined a bat symbol at them or something and invited them over to grab me.”

Chase snorted.

“No, no, of course,” Harrison rushed to say. “I didn’t mean—”

“You’re tugging on your left ear. That means you’re holding back on me.”

His shoulders slumped. “I got an email. That’s why I went to Wilde in the first place. I turned it over to them, thinking they could track the sender. Hoping we could stop this mess before it went too far.”

Goosebumps rose on her skin. “You didn’t tell me anything about an email.” Her head turned so she could look back at Cole. “Did you know about an email?”

“No. My boss didn’t mention it to me.” A pause. “Very unlike Eric.”

Her attention flew back to Harrison. “What did the email say?”

Harrison winced. “I mean, does it really matter? It was enough to put me on alert. Enough for me to think it was the same guys and to go and get the help that we needed to—”

“Tell her what it said,” Cole ordered.

Chase nodded. “Yeah, stop dicking around.”

“It, um…said…” Harrison’s gaze went back to the floor. “This time, we’ll send her back to you in pieces if you don’t pay us what your father owed.”

She almost jumped off the couch. “Your father? What does Quint have to do with any of this?”

“I don’t know. I swear, I don’t!” He did jump from his chair. “I’m not letting someone cut you into pieces. I’m not!”

“Damn straight, that’s not happening,” Cole added grimly.

Her breath sawed in and out. “No one could trace the email?” Someone wants to cut me into pieces?

“Eric Wilde’s team tried, but they didn’t turn up anything we could really use.”

Eric Wilde. Yes, that name was definitely familiar. More familiar than she could show. Eric owned the huge security and protection firm. Wilde.

Harrison raked a hand through his hair. “That’s when I knew you had to get protection. I told Eric that only Cole would do, and I got Cole to take the case so that—”

“Stop.” Her heart slammed into her chest. Hard. “Go back.”

His hand had frozen, mid-grab on his hair.

“Only Cole would do?” Evie repeated. She was trying